Financial Firms Lacking Operational Transparency

Berlin-based anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International recently came out with a report indicating that global financial institutions need to be more open in their operational reporting.

Multinational firms are reporting more than in recent years, TI noted, but there remains much to be done in terms of corporate transparency. The watchdog scored 105 international organizations on a transparency scale of 0 to 10, with 10 being the most transparent. Of all the sectors surveyed, financial firms showed the least transparency when it came to reporting anti-corruption initiatives, scoring an average of 4.2.

“Multinational corporations can and must play a significant role in the global fight against corruption,” said Transparency International’s Chair, Huguette Labelle. "As the world continues to recover from the deep economic pain of 2008, the leadership at more companies must commit to stopping corruption."

The TI report comes on the heels of a separate report by whistleblower protection firm Labaton Sucharow, which found that as many as one in six financial services workers in the United Kingdom and United States would willingly engage in illegal activity to get ahead in business if they felt they could get away with it.